The Retail Multiverse: Personalization & Community Connection at the Speed of Culture As customer expectations shift and AI opens the possibility of personalization to more brands, successfully navigating the retail multiverse will require a delicate balance of human...
The store is no longer where decisions start, but it’s still where they’re made
Shoppers walk into stores more informed than ever, but most don’t walk out with what they initially planned to buy.
For years, the prevailing assumption has been that the real work of influencing a purchase happens before a shopper ever sets foot in a store. Get them to consider your brand online, show up in their research, make the list, and the sale will follow.
But shaping a shopper’s intent before they arrive is not the same as winning their purchase once they’re there. Most brand investment is front-loaded toward research and consideration, leaving the physical moment of conversion underdesigned and underleveraged.
Mood Media’s 2026 In-Store Influence Survey, conducted in partnership with Dynata, polled 1,000 U.S. shoppers on how digital research, in-store experiences, and environmental cues shape their purchase decisions. We found that the store’s role in the final purchase decision hasn’t diminished in the age of digital research. If anything, it’s become more defined.
Here’s what the data tells us about where influence actually lands, and what retailers should do differently.
The Illusion of Digital Control
Digital tools now play a central role in how shoppers prepare to buy. Nearly three-quarters of consumers (74%) say digital tools influence what they plan to purchase before entering a store. Search engines, retailer sites, AI tools, and social content are all doing the work of narrowing options and shaping expectations before the trip even begins. Among shoppers who research before visiting a store, search engines are the most common starting point (51%), followed by retailer websites and apps (22%), and AI tools (13%).
But that influence has a ceiling. Only 13% of shoppers say they consistently stick to what they planned to buy, meaning the vast majority remain open to changing course once they’re inside the store.
That openness shows up clearly in purchase behavior. Just 41% of shoppers report mostly buying the products or brands they researched beforehand. Another 39% split evenly between planned and unplanned purchases, and 20% say they mostly discover something new entirely. Digital research narrows the field, but it rarely locks in the outcome.
The shoppers most shaped by digital research show this behavior most acutely. Millennials and Gen Z are the most likely to say digital tools shape their in-store purchase intent, with 34% reporting this compared to 23% of baby boomers and Gen X. The younger generations are also the most likely to switch products or brands once they arrive, making them the most primed by digital influence and most responsive to what they encounter in the physical environment.
What tools are shoppers using to research?
51% – Search engines
22% – Retailer websites
13% – AI tools
What are shoppers researching?
- Electronics & appliances 62%
- Clothing & fashion 44%
- Vehicles 43%
The Categories Where In-Store Influence Matters Most
Understanding where shoppers research most heavily before visiting a store helps clarify where the in-store environment has the most work to do. Sixty-two percent of consumers are most likely to research electronics and appliances before buying in-store, followed by clothing and fashion (44%) and vehicles (43%).
These are high-consideration categories where shoppers arrive with strong opinions, detailed comparisons, and clear expectations, making the in-store environment’s ability to shift those expectations all the more significant.
A shopper who spent two hours researching laptops online before walking into a store is not necessarily a closed case. They’re a highly informed shopper who still likely hasn’t made a final decision. The right in-store experience can be the thing that resolves it. The same applies to fashion, where tactile and visual elements of the physical environment do the work that no product page can replicate.
Generational behavior is an additional layer to consider here when designing the in-store experience. Millennials and Gen Z are the most proactive in researching beauty, wellness, and fashion categories before shopping in-store, with nearly half (49%) reporting this behavior across those categories.
They’re also the shoppers most responsive to visual presentation and in-store media, meaning the categories where pre-purchase research is heaviest are also where the physical environment has the most influence to wield. Millennials and Gen Z come to physical stores expecting to feel something the digital research phase couldn’t deliver, making the in-store experience as much about brand connection as it is about closing the sale.
For retailers in these categories, every element of the store environment is competing with several hours of online research. Stores need to be designed to do what that research couldn’t, giving shoppers something to feel, see, and interact with that moves them from informed to decided.
What Actually Changes Minds In-Store
When something changes a shopper’s mind in-store, it’s rarely accidental. The survey points to three primary drivers, each working on a different part of the decision.
Promotions and signage influence 66% of shoppers, making them the most broadly effective in-store tool. They cut through the noise of a busy environment, give shoppers a clear reason to act, and reduce the friction of comparing options in the moment. For a shopper who walked in leaning toward one product, the right sign in the right place can be enough to tip the decision.
Interactive product experiences influence 41% of shoppers because touching, testing, or engaging with a product in person resolves the uncertainties that digital research leaves open. That hands-on moment often does more to build purchase confidence than anything a shopper encountered before arriving.
Visual presentation influences 36% overall, but that figure shifts considerably by generation. Among millennials and Gen Z, 41% say packaging and product presentation shape their decisions, nearly double the 23% reported by boomers. For younger shoppers in particular, how a product looks and feels in context is part of how they evaluate it.
Furthermore, in-store digital advertising, including screens, audio, and digital signage, influences purchase decisions for 69% of shoppers, though its weight varies considerably by generation. Millennials and Gen Z are most responsive, with 13% reporting a strong influence, while 39% of boomers say these elements have minimal impact. Gen X lands in the middle, with 48% describing the influence as moderate.
These elements don’t operate in isolation. Shoppers move through an environment that’s sending signals continuously, and those signals compound. A well-placed promotion reinforced by strong visual presentation and relevant audio content creates a more persuasive moment than any single element could on its own.
Designing for Discovery AND Decision
Retailers that want to capture the full benefits of in-store retail media can start by treating the store as a decision environment rather than a delivery mechanism. In practice, that means building an experience where every element is doing deliberate work:
Digital screens and digital out-of-home retail displays should surface relevant promotions or product comparisons at the right moment in the shopper’s path.
In-store audio should set the right tone for the category and slow shoppers down long enough to engage.
Visual merchandising should signal value clearly enough to move someone from consideration to confidence.
Interactive touchpoints should let shoppers close the gap between what they researched and what they’re actually holding in their hands.
None of this requires reinventing the store. Instead, be intentional about what the environment is communicating at each stage of the visit, and make sure those signals are working together rather than competing for attention. Retailers that design with conversion in mind — not just consideration — are better positioned to capture the full value of every store visit, including the purchases shoppers didn’t plan to make but were ready to make given the right moment.
Mood Media works with retailers to build those moments deliberately, through integrated audio, digital content, and in-store media strategies designed to ensure the store is doing as much work as everything that came before it.
The North Face’s Regent Street flagship in London is one example of what that looks like in reality. Working with Mood, the brand transformed a 10,000 square foot space into a fully immersive environment, anchored by a 360-degree projection dome, a custom-developed signature scent, and a curated audio experience that shifts with the rhythm of the day. In this case, the decision to buy wasn’t driven by a product page or a review but by standing inside a projection dome surrounded by nature sounds and a memorable scent designed to build a stronger brand connection.
Retailers that want to convert more of the consideration they’ve already earned can start by asking what their store is doing at each stage of the visit to move shoppers from informed to fully bought in, and then designing it to do that work consistently.
About the Authors
Jaime Bettencourt
Jaime Bettencourt, SVP of Global Account Management and Marketing at Mood Media, is an accomplished senior-level sales and marketing leader with a proven ability to achieve double-digit revenue growth, recognized for designing world-class customer experiences for leading lifestyle and retail brands. She has a robust track record for leading teams and leveraging custom, complex in-store marketing, media, and technology solutions for Fortune 100 clients in the retail space. Throughout Jaime’s 20+ years in the experiential industry, she’s been in various marketing, branding and sales leadership roles and has worked with global organizations to enhance in-store experiences through targeted brand initiatives and marketing strategies supported by customer insights and analytics.
CONNECT WITH US
Elevate your Customer Experience through the power of Mood.